Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Civil Cases (August 1999)Report of the Task Force on the Qualify of Justice Subcommittee on Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Judicial System, assessing and making recommendations regarding the effects of ADR on courts, litigants, and the public, as well as on ethical issues and court referral of disputes.

Evaluation of the Early Mediation Pilot Programs (February 2004)Evaluation report on five court-annexed mediation pilot programs for civil cases - three mandatory programs and two voluntary programs - that operated from 2000 to 2003. The report focuses on these pilot programs' impact on trial rates, disposition time, litigant satisfaction with the dispute resolution process, litigant costs, and court workload.

Use and Cost of References in General Civil Cases (August 2004) Report to the Legislature concerning references ordered by California superior courts under Code of Civil Procedure sections 638 and 639 from 2001 to 2003. The report focuses on (1) the use of references, particularly discovery references; (2) the time spent by referees in fulfilling their appointments; and (3) the fees charged to litigants for referees’ services.

The 1991 California Family Court Services Snapshot Study:

Report 1: Overview: Families, Cases, and Client Feedback (PDF, 98 KB) [Executive Summary, PDF, 25 KB]
1991 Snapshot Study evaluation of the usefulness of mandatory mediation and the prevailing experience of clients statewide. The study compiled comprehensive data about clients and sessions in 75 branch courts, including client family characteristics and their ratings of their mediation.

Children's Residence Five Years After Mediation (August 2001, PDF, 50 KB)
"Research Update" addressing how living arrangements changed for children of divorce and separation in California five years after their parents' court-based mediation session in 1991.

Client Feedback in California Court-Based Child Custody Mediation (April 2004, PDF, 200 KB)
"Research Update" exploration of the results of the Parent Viewpoint Survey from the 1999 Statewide Uniform Statistical Reporting System (SUSRS) study, including feedback for the total client population, demographics and other individual client characteristics, case characteristics, and characteristics of the county or court in which the mediation session took place.

Custody Mediation and Ethnic Diversity in California (October 2001, PDF, 217 KB)
"Research Update" investigating how the California family and juvenile courts are adapting their programs to an increasingly diverse client population that is more likely to be self-represented, foreign-born, and in need of interpreters.